I attest that the following biography is a
product of my own original
work..

“The
foundation of all mental illness is the
unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.”“Religion
is
a defense against the experience of
God.”

Biography

Childhood/Family Life

Carl Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland
to Johann Paul Achilles Jung and Emilie Preiswerk on July 26, 1875
(Infoplease,
2005). Carl was named after his paternal grandfather who was a surgeon
at Basel.
His father,
Johann, was a Protestant Clergyman who had difficulties with his
spiritual life
when Emilie’s health declined. Carl and his father rarely saw
eye-to-eye on
most issues. Emilie suffered from poor health in her later years and
was
described by Carl as distant emotionally (Frostburg).

As
a
young child Carl, too, suffered from fragile health. He spent much time
studying at home under watchful care. In grade school, he found
practically no
friends and was relatively disliked (Jung, 2005). Despite this,
however, it was
recognized that he had “a vivid imagination.”(Jung, 2005, p. 1) Later
in grade
school, Carl began to suffer from fainting spells from reading
(Biography, 2005).
He continued to read despite this handicap and eventually grew out of
it. After
high school, Carl went on to become a medical student at Basel, which
his
family ties probably
dictated. One year into college, his father died and Carl was left to
explore
other fields of interest. He became interested in parapsychology and
wrote his
first publication on occult phenomena. Carl graduated from Basel in
1900.

Adult Life

Even in his graduate studies Jung was
considered arrogant by his colleagues, but his creativity still shined
through.
In 1902, he completed his dissertation titled “On the Psychology and
Pathology
of So-Called Occult Phenomena” (Literature, 2005). A year later, he
married
Emma Rauschenbach, a rich girl who also had family ties to Basel. Also
in
1903, he worked with Riklin to
establish an experimental psychology laboratory. Together, they worked
out and
tested theories of word association tests as they related to
psychopathology. In
1905, Jung became senior physician at Burgholzli Psychiatric Clinic and
continued to lecture at the University of Zurich
(Biography,
2005). One day a paralyzed woman came to see Jung, who put her under
hypnosis.
Upon awakening she proclaimed herself cured and the image of Jung as a
miracle
worker began to spread (Frostburg, 2005).

Around
1905, Jung sent some copies of his word association studies to Freud,
who was
already a big name in psychology. They began to exchange ideas and
theories which
led to a meeting in 1907 (Literature, 2005). They hit it off having
similar
views and Freud wished for Jung to continue his work on his theories of
psychoanalysis. This would not be the case as Jung disagreed with Freud
about
sex being man’s great drive, favoring the fear of death instead. This
disagreement led to a falling out between the two which left them
respectful of
each other at a minimum.

After
his time with Freud, Jung went on an intense soul search which lasted
for four
years. He renewed his theories of archetypes and created analytical
psychology.
In his free time, Carl painted and enjoyed poetry, as well as explored
other
cultures and traditions. In 1944, Jung had a near-death experience
(Williams,
2003). A heart attack left him clinically dead for a few moments before
the
doctors were able to bring him back. In his autobiography “Memories,
Dreams,
Reflections,” Jung recalls hating the doctor for bringing him back to
life. In
1961, Jung died again; this time, no doctor would bring him back.

Professional Accomplishments

In 1957, Jung wrote “The
Undiscovered Self” (1957), which took on a nostalgic tone in reflection
of his
previous works and theories. In this relatively short book, Jung
considers
man’s position in relation to the state, church, himself and the
meanings of
each of those relations. Backed with little to no noted empirical
evidence,
Jung wrote eloquently about philosophical matters in psychological
terms. This
work was a typical example of how Jung tended to relate all matters to
a
handful of topics, such as religion, state, and so on.

One
of Jung’s more creative works was “On the Relation of Analytical
Psychology to
Poetry” (1978). He started this piece by noting the difference between
the
simple creation of art and its essence. Anyone can simply put ink on
paper or
canvas, but an artist is inspired. Again, he related art to religion as
they
were both psychic phenomena and occur on different levels within
different
people. Art came from two main places, the individual creating the art
with all
of his or her expectation, intentions, faults, etc, and what he called
the “collective
unconscious”. The collective unconscious was like a living entity which
used man
as a medium to create. It was also explained as a river of timeless
thoughts
common to all people. The collective unconscious helped regulate
cultures and
helped inspire individuals. Inspired art can trigger a certain
understanding
between people across cultures, time, gender and age. There may be
something
common, that everyone can relate to. According to Jung, this was the
essence of
art.

In
his autobiography “Memories, Dreams, Reflections”, which was published
after
his death, Jung wrote about his near-death experience. He recalled
seeing the
earth from outer space, noting each main body of land and ocean. He
then came
across a Hindu sitting and waiting for him in front of a temple he had
seen in
his life. The entire body of his works could be remembered so that he
could
view his accomplishments. He had feelings of being care-free and
peaceful. Jung
described the feeling as a middle of something without a beginning or
end. The
answers, it seemed, would be found in the temple. But before he could
enter,
his attention was shifted to the doctors bringing him back to life.
That was
the end of his vision.

Contributions to Psychology

Jung’s greatest theories were some
of the more basic ideas that we take for granted today. Jung coined the
terms
introverted and extraverted in explaining personality types. Archetypes
were
another common subject today because of Jung. The collective
unconscious, noted
above, was an interesting theory which Jung managed to work into many
of his
other theories.

Although
Jung worked with Freud, he did not agree that sexual urges were the
main drive
for all people. Instead Jung focused on coping with death as a main
drive. Not
only did Jung’s specific theories contribute to the field of
psychology, but
his way of thinking did as well. Whatever the topic, it often involved
theology, religion, and paranormal fields. He had a broad view which
included
many aspects to the human condition when considering the nature of the
human
mind.